Certification for enhanced vision will allow operators to take advantage of new rules

Bombardier expects the first Global business jet equipped with its BEVS enhanced vision system to enter service before year-end, following provisional certification of the system by Transport Canada.

US certification of the BEVS, developed with system integrator Thales and infrared sensor supplier CMC Electronics, is expected in the third quarter. This will allow US operators to take advantage of new Federal Aviation Administration rules allowing instrument approaches below the Category 1 decision altitude to 100ft (30m) height above touchdown provided the runway is visible using EVS.

Canadian operators will be able to apply for an exemption allowing them to use the US operating rules, but the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will only allow EVS to be used for situational awareness. “We are pushing EASA for rules allowing use of the system down to 100ft, but they are further away,” says Marc Bouliane, Bombardier’s Global product manager.

Bombardier describes the BEVS as a second-generation system, because the IR camera, its cooling and processing are housed in a single line-replaceable unit – mounted on top of the nose. The sensor fairing and IR window are protected against icing. The sealed camera is warranted for 2,000h, after which it must be returned to the manufacturer for maintenance.

The BEVS images both the ambient scene and runway lights with a single mid-wave IR sensor, routeing the video to the pilot’s head-up display (HUD) and, to allow the co-pilot to monitor the approach, the flight-management system control display unit in the centre console. Full HUD symbology is displayed along with the IR image by using raster scanning in EVS mode.

Standard on the ultra-long-range Global Express XRS, deliveries of which start early next year, the BEVS is a $506,000 option on the super-large Global 5000. The BEVS will also be available as a $720,000 retrofit for Global Expresses.

GRAHAM WARWICK/WASHINGTON DC

Source: Flight International

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